It has been a few tense months since the accident. Your team has finally gotten ready to drill. You are a little annoyed that some of the Nova scientists wanted to make sure that your team doesn't contaminate anything. Lilly has done her best to reassure them that you will only be sticking to your allotted area. It still bothers you for some reason.
"Hey boss how far do you want us to drill?" One of your engineers asks.
"We will start at fifty meters then we will collect some samples for the Nova scientists then we will see what we can dig up," you outline your plan for the engineer.
"Sounds good," The man responds. He puts the instructions onto the computer. The drill rumbles to life. Hopefully nothing goes wrong. You head to the rover to inform Lilly that you have started the drilling however something catches your attention. One of the Nova engineers is watching from a distance. You will ask about it when you talk to Lilly. A minute later you are on the rover. You press the comms switch.
"Juno to Armstrong base do you receive me?" You ask using the standard greeting.
"Loud and clear Juno. What can I do for you?" Comes the response from Lilly.
"Two things we are about to start drilling and one of your men is spying on us. Do you know about it?" You are a little concerned that she sent him on purpose.
"Thank you for letting us know. I thought Roman would do something like this," Lilly muses. She brings the communication to a close. Your thoughts start to drift towards the reason why Roman is spying on your team even though you have double checked everything with Lilly. You put it down to the fact that he was the most vocal against your team. You are glad that the rest of the Nova team has somewhat accepted you. You quickly join the rest of your team. You are listening to a conversation between Roman and your second command Jenna.
"So when we reach the first depth we will give you some samples," Jenna is outlining the agreement that you made with Lilly.
"Ok but I want to make sure that the drill doesn't affect the other sites," Roman is pushing Jenna about it.
"Look Roman we are the furthest away from any of the science as we can possibly get without being to far from our base," You give him your reassurance. Hopefully he doesn't start a fight.
"Boss the drill is ready to go," The same engineer as before speaks up.
"Let's get this operation underway," You respond. You can feel the drill break into the surface. It's a good thing that most of the Nova team respect your crew. After thirty minutes of drilling you have made it to the fifty meter mark. You are making sure that Roman has his samples but something doesn't feel right.
"Richard is there anything I can help you with?" Roman asks. You double check the drill.
"Can you see if the drill head is damaged," You manually raise the drill to make sure nothing is wrong and so you can get the samples. One of your scientists gets the samples whilst you and Roman double check the drill head.
"I can't see anything wrong," Roman confirms. Maybe it's just you being paranoid. Hopefully not. You clean the drill head just in case. The scientist passes Roman the samples. He takes them and leaves. After two hours of drilling you have all made it back to the base. You are in the mess hall eating your lunch.
"Do you mind if I join you boss?" Marcus asks.
"Go for it," You could do with a conversation. You place some of the food in your mouth. You will have to complement Darius more often. The thought makes you smile a little.
"I heard you started drilling today," Marcus starts the conversation.
"Yup. We went fifty meters and we are going to see if we can make one hundred and fifty in another two hours and a half," You fill him in. At least the drilling is going the way you want it to. You quickly finish your food. After ten minutes of conversation you head to the mission control for a status check.
"Mia, can I have a status check?" You ask. You wish you could be at the drill site but you've decided that it would be better to trust your engineers.
"The drill is at fifty five meters," Mia fills you in. You are glad that your deadline will be met. You start thinking about how you would help Lilly fulfil her mission without interrupting yours. You gesture for Mia to make sure the displays are correct. Your attention is captured by the comms chime. You press some buttons. You are greeted by Kelsey.
"What can I do for you Kelsey?"
"I just wanted to thank you for the samples. Lilly has also invited your crew to dinner," Kelsey announces. It's a good offer.
"No worries. I'll talk to Jenna about it," You reply. Two hours later you are back at the drill site. You can feel the anticipation build between the crew. You are glad that you didn't tell them about your deadline. You are looking at the display screen. There is ten meters left. Twenty minutes later the goal has been met and you are talking to Jenna about Lilly's dinner offer.
"I think it would be a good idea," Jenna confirms. Three hours later your crew has joined the Nova crew for dinner. You are glad that pace has been made. You are talking to Jay and he seems to be having fun.
"So how is the drilling operation going?" Jay asks.
"We reached one hundred and fifty today," You respond. After ten minutes of socialising with Jay you have decided that you should talk to Lilly. You find her with Kelsey. You feel bad for ruining their light hearted conversation.
"Sorry for interrupting but do you mind if I join you?" You decide to be polite just in case. Lily glances at Kelsey.
"Go for it," You strike up a conversation about space. You can tell that Lilly is the kind of person that would do a Star Trek style five year mission. It puts a smile on your face. There is so much more to her crew than you originally thought.
YOU ARE READING
Constellations
Fanfiction"I am so sorry Neil" "It will be alright Lily," he responds. Lily Collins yearned to follow in her father Micheal Collins' footsteps but there was one problem. She was stuck serving coffee to people at NASA. One fateful day she ends up spilling cof...
